Croatia serves up cruel blow to Creighton’s Junior WRC campaign

– William Creighton endured a challenging weekend at the second round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, Croatia Rally
– The Moira driver suffered a rally of mixed fortunes, with impressive pace blighted by a tyre choice gamble and an opening day off
– Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver looks to the third round of the season in Portugal for the chance to shine

Pearson shows promise on British Rally Championship debut

Borders driver Garry Pearson stamped a noticeable impression on the British Rally Championship leaderboard last weekend after making his top-flight debut at the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton [23-24 April].

Despite stepping into one of the hardest fought championships in Europe for the very first time, the 30-year-old from Duns hurled the Asset Alliance Group and Hankook Tire backed Ford Fiesta Rally2 through the Essex lanes to challenge for a podium position at the mid-point of the rally.

Clacton victory the perfect start to Osian Pryce’s British Rally Championship title challenge

Osian Pryce has made the perfect start to his British Rally Championship campaign by winning the opening round of the 2022 series, the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton (23/24 April), in his Demon Tweeks-backed Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.

And what’s even more encouraging is that his strongest rallies – events where he has more experience and that contain the type of stages that better suit his driving style – are still to follow.

Co-driven by Noel O’Sullivan, Osian made a solid start on Saturday night’s two short stages along the Clacton-on-Sea promenade, reaching the overnight halt in fourth place, just two seconds off the lead.

Battling Bird overcomes Oschersleben odds

Cumbrian driver Frank Bird was back in race action this weekend when he contested the openingFrank Bird round of the ADAC GT Masters series held at Oschersleben in Germany.

Driving for the MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF organisation, Penrith-born Frank teamed up with 18-year-old Finnish driver Elias Seppanen for the first two races in the seriers in the Mercedes AMG-GT3.

Sensational Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship debut for Ruairi Bell as he wins Tour of Epynt at first attempt

Ruairi Bell made one of the most incredible rally debuts ever seen on Epynt by leading the Nigel Ferguson Fabricators Tour of Epynt from start to finish and recording an extraordinary 44 second victory to take the early lead in the 2022 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship.

Driving his ex-Kalle Rovanperä Inspira-backed Škoda Fabia R5 in competition for only the second time, and the first time on asphalt, the 22-year old from London gained the praise of his rivals as they could only admire the uncatchable stage times that he set over the event’s fast and challenging seven stages.

Bell contributed much of his success to his co-driver Max Freeman and the trust he had in the pace notes – something you need in abundance over the blind crests and deceptive turns of Epynt. But at a venue where experience is considered vitally important, first-timer Bell was exceptional in his Pirelli-shod Fabia.

Tour of Epynt

Spectators were back up on Epynt for the first time since 2019 as the Tour of Epynt opened the 2022 Protyre Asphalt Championship. It was relative new faces to the championship who drew the most attention as Ruairi Bell & Max Freeman (Fabia R5) stunned all the others with fastest stage after fastest stage time, to take victory by 44s. They belied their lowly seeding of no.12 but in fairness it was their first time on the tarmac stages of Epynt. Mark Kelly & Neil Colman (Fiesta R5) has gone joint fastest on stage 1 with Bell, but it was stage 4 that saw them get a 20s time penalty, which briefly dropped them to 6th overall.

Croatia experience lifts Creighton’s Junior WRC chances

– William Creighton will tackle the second round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship next weekend; Croatia Rally
– The Moira driver will be aiming to build on his opening round podium result at the tricky snow-bound Rally Sweden in February.
– Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver will use experience gained from last season’s outing in Croatia, the scene of his Junior WRC debut

Osian set for 100th rally start as he targets British Rally Championship title in new-look Polo GTI R5

Osian Pryce will celebrate his 100th rally start on this year’s British Rally Championship, as he attempts to win the title for the first time in his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.

Hirst hits home run with Rallynuts Stages win

Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear recorded a sensational victory at Saturday’s Rallynuts Stages Rally [9 April] as the pairing stormed to an impressive four fastest times from six stages in their Ford Fiesta R5.

The pairing, fresh from a win at Rally North Wales just a fortnight ago returned a scintillating performance, opening a whopping 15 second lead on the initial Myherin stage and were never headed, taking arguably their most important win to date.

Rallynuts Stages Rally

Less than 6 months after the last Rallynuts Stages Rally, the MRF Tyres BTRDA Championship were back in mid-Wales. Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear (Fiesta R5) set a superb time through the opening stage, 15s faster than 2021 rally winners Elliot Payne & Patrick Walsh (Fiesta Rally2). This was followed by another stage win through Hafren to take a 23s lead into service. Ian Bainbridge & Tom Woodburn (Fabia R5) were fastest on stage 3 to snatch 2nd place from Payne. Hirst followed up with two more stage wins from the repeat runs of the three stages to take victory by 31s.